3 The Blossoms of Youth and Beauty

After finishing the midday meal, Pan Yulian returned to her room to rest briefly.

Knowing that the Fourth Miss was a light sleeper in the afternoon, Qingyue and Qingyu quietly lowered the bed curtains and tiptoed out.

The moment the door closed, Pan Yulian’s eyes snapped open.

She slowly lifted a corner of the curtain and carefully peeked out through the gap—

After confirming no one was inside, Pan Yulian cautiously secured the curtains and then pulled out the box containing all her belongings from beneath her pillow.

Clutching the box with a reverent expression, she knelt on the bed and closed her eyes to silently and solemnly pray for a long while.

“Recharge and activate the system.”

【Beep—!】

【Logging into the game. Please confirm if you wish to recharge and activate the system.】

It changed, it really changed.

Pan Yulian bit her arm hard to keep from screaming.

Once she confirmed she wasn’t dreaming, she nodded repeatedly: “Confirm, confirm.”

【Activating system, please wait.】

The silver coins and bills inside the box were enveloped by a faint white light and vanished without a trace within moments.

Having touched the silver repeatedly, Pan Yulian instantly knew how much she had left—

Three hundred taels.

Not three hundred coins, not three hundred big coins, but a full three hundred taels!

【Game login successful.】

Colorful fireworks blossomed on the floating screen.

【Welcome player Pan Yulian to the activated recharge system. Please claim your login gift pack and first recharge gift pack. Remember to check in daily to receive benefits... Dear player, enjoy your game and don’t forget to leave a five-star review.】

The system game she had been stuck with for over ten years suddenly logged in successfully. At this moment, Pan Yulian felt a surreal sense of disbelief.

Seeing the screen flooded with gift packs, she didn’t have time to mourn the silver she had spent and shakily clicked on the login gift pack.

The pack exploded open, revealing a delicate set of clothing first—[Pink Beauty Charm].

It was a full set: hair accessories, dress, shoes, socks, makeup—everything was included.

Following that was an illustration of a beauty wearing this outfit (used for card collection), along with scattered extras like three attempts at the Cloud Dress Feather Lottery, ten silver leaves, and one hundred Velvet Cloud Threads (used for clothing upgrades)...

Pan Yulian carefully examined every feature and button within the system.

It was simply a dress-up palace intrigue mini-game.

After transmigrating, it magically combined with reality. The screen indicated that Pan Yulian’s current identity was still that of a noble lady of the official family, with the contestant maid option remaining locked. Therefore, most functions were grayed out and unclickable, and only one or two items in the inventory could be viewed and used...

Ignoring the rest of the game, just the so-called zero-spending recharge tier made Pan Yulian clutch her chest.

In the modern world, 1 RMB could recharge 100 gold leaves.

The first recharge of 6 RMB, at a 50% discount, would cost only 0.3 RMB... Logically, this recharge sounded very cheap.

But!!!

In this era, one gold leaf equaled one tael of gold, which equaled ten taels of silver!

The first recharge of 6 RMB was actually 600 gold leaves—6,000 taels of silver. Even with the discount, it still cost 300 taels!

Looking at the other gift packs priced at 98, 328, and 648 RMB... Pan Yulian just wanted to clutch her chest and scream for help.

This was worse than robbery.

If only she had recklessly spent and recharged more... No, if only she hadn’t recharged and just played on her phone!!!

Fortunately, the gimmick had at least a little real benefit: Pan Yulian could check in daily to receive vouchers. Yes, she could receive a 1 RMB voucher every day until she collected a total of 1,024 RMB.

These vouchers had no restrictions and could be used for recharges or purchasing gift packs, counting as real spending to increase VIP experience.

Of course, despite the pain, Pan Yulian’s emotions remained fairly stable. After all, such a miraculous thing justified a bit of extravagance, right?

Ignoring the dazzling jewelry and the most enticing gacha pools, Pan Yulian first pulled out the “Wish Fulfillment” lucky small brocade box from the first recharge gift pack.

With a fiery gaze of expectation, she gently clicked it. A cluster of colorful little stars burst forth...

And then, nothing?!?

Pan Yulian rubbed her eyes and looked around, but there was still nothing...

Well, perhaps it required a special trigger. Luck was random, after all. Yes, random. Her luck had never been good anyway. No worries, she had other items...

Having spent all her possessions, Pan Yulian dared not imagine other possibilities and desperately comforted herself this way.

While comforting herself, she frantically pulled out the “Pink Beauty Charm” outfit again.

【Clothing Level: Two Stars】

【Clothing Rating: Charm +2, Innocence +2, Seductiveness +2】

【Clothing Traits: Pure, Coy】

【Set Bonus (activates when complete): Increases character’s naive and coy attributes, slightly lowering other characters’ guard.】

Originally, the game page should have a little figure beside the wardrobe for dressing up.

But now, the space beside the wardrobe was empty, with no one in sight.

Pan Yulian, dragging the clothing, blinked blankly. Where was the person?

If there was no one to wear the clothes, what use was the outfit she pulled out?

After a brief system pause, a prompt suddenly appeared—

【Note: In special environments, players must first use the corresponding outfit card ‘Pink Beauty Charm Beauty Illustration’ to successfully wear the outfit in this environment. (Once the set is complete, the beauty illustration card belonging to this set can be purchased.)】

Wait, what? Does this mean... this outfit was actually meant for her to wear?!!

Thinking this, Pan Yulian’s eyes lit up as she clicked “use” repeatedly.

As the screen flashes flickered, the clothes in the wardrobe turned gray.

【Player has performed special wear.】

Scanning the prompts, Pan Yulian didn’t pause for a moment. Heart pounding with excitement and hands trembling, she tumbled off the bed and rushed to the dressing table—

To grab the reader’s attention, the original novel had devoted much space to describing Pan Yulian’s appearance.

【The woman walking from behind caught everyone’s eye—black clouds of hair piled high, almond-shaped eyes shimmering, rosy cheeks like peaches.】

【The one lying on the bed at night had a sinister gaze but smiled faintly, firmly suppressing the frightened, trembling delicate soft red, with jade-like bones pure and full, skin whiter than snow, surpassing jade petals.】

【It seemed wherever the jade lotus walked, it was like a gentle breeze, a tender flower reflected in water, the Hunan skirt twirling with pity...】

Pan Yulian used to think such shameless florid descriptions in the novel were exaggerated and absurd.

After all, in this life she could see herself day by day from birth; how could she not know what she looked like?

But half a year ago, when she suddenly saw this face blossom as if after swallowing some “celebrity beauty” quick-acting pill, her previously stable heart plunged into an abyss.

She didn’t doubt why the novel’s ruthless and discerning male lead accepted Pan Yulian’s apology gift and didn’t kill her immediately but chose to keep her as a personal “collection.”

The person in the mirror was truly well-suited to be paired with jade beads and strings of jade...

Ah, ptooey!!!

Pan Yulian violently shook her head, trying to shake off such corrupt thoughts, her face darkening as she lunged toward the bronze mirror—still wearing the blue high-waisted ruqun she had taken off before bed.

Her eyes reddened, and when lifted, shone with a hesitant yet inviting glimmer.

She searched her entire body—

No, where was the delicate pink peach blossom dress?!

The double-layered peach blossom shoes?!

The fragment jade tassel hairpin?!

And the Qinghua Ruyi pendant?!

None of it was there!!!

*Snap—*

Pan Yulian’s fantasy of escaping this frivolous, flashy, and reckless cannon fodder image to become a pure and proper white rose shattered instantly.

The old clothes in the mirror seemed to mock her wild hopes.

She trembled—not just her hands, but her breath quickened, her head spun until she shook all over.

!!!

Ahhh!

A liar!!!

A cross-time liar!!!

She had been swindled into a pay-to-win trap!!!!

Damn liar!!!!

Pan Yulian clutched her chest and collapsed to the ground, silently and miserably wailing.

Tsk, tsk, tsk, this scene was more than just tragic.

***

As dusk approached, after finishing his shift, Officer Pan hurried back to the manor.

Ningfeng Hall

Madam Lin rushed to greet him, “Master.”

Officer Pan nodded and sat down to catch his breath. “The imperial envoy who went south a few days ago has returned to the capital. The Yellow Records Office is busy, and the Vice Minister is watching closely... Madam, you said there was a letter from home? Does your father have some instructions?”

Before Madam Lin could reply, she took out a sealed letter and handed it to Officer Pan.

Pan took it and skimmed through it, then abruptly stood in shock. “Is it really like this?!”

Lin Zhendan, as the salt transport commissioner of the Two Zheshis, held a crucial post tightly controlled by those trusted by the emperor. Yet, this time he was secretly reported for having overly close ties with the King of Cheng.

Because the source of the information was confidential, the emperor had not yet issued a public decree, and Lin Zhendan could not formally appeal.

Seeing Officer Pan pacing anxiously with his hands behind his back, Madam Lin nervously gripped her handkerchief.

“Master, my father...”

Officer Pan shook his head. “Father-in-law has always been cautious and utterly loyal to His Majesty. But being salt commissioner is a heavy responsibility... and the visitors come with ill intent.”

As the emperor aged, the factional struggles among the princes and relatives grew fiercer, but neither the Lin nor Pan families had rushed to take sides for personal gain.

Pan’s father was eager to act but knew his place.

At this moment, reckless allegiance would only make him a mere foot soldier.

His true support lay with the Grand Minister Taishan.

Though privately uncertain, publicly Lin Zhendan was the emperor’s trusted official, and now fraternizing with other princes was dangerous. The emperor was still alive and firmly on the throne.

“The difficulty lies in the emperor not issuing a public decree, so Father-in-law cannot defend himself. The worst fear is that the emperor will remember this.”

What did a minister fear most? Not failing a task or being reported by the censorate.

Most feared losing the emperor’s trust and favor.

“The urgent matter is to dispel the emperor’s doubts.”

Madam Lin nodded repeatedly. “Master is absolutely right.”

She looked at Officer Pan expectantly, but his face remained grave. “But that’s where the difficulty lies.”

Hearing this, Madam Lin’s expression softened with despair.

Officer Pan paced again, then suddenly his eyes brightened.

He stopped and said, “Madam, in five days, the capital will register candidates for the palace selection.”

Madam Lin unconsciously took up the thread, “Yes, this is the year of the grand selection. Five days from now is March twentieth...”

Three years ago, Pan Yunruo, the Pan family’s eldest daughter born of a concubine, had participated in the selection but lost. By custom, the other daughters need not participate, so the family had not paid much attention.

But hearing Officer Pan mention it now, Madam Lin shuddered, clearly realizing something.

Officer Pan took a few steps over and nodded heavily.

“Just as you thought, we must send one of our girls to participate.”

He emphasized, “This time, Wenjun must go.”

“Master!”

Madam Lin was instantly excited.

“Now, the palace is full of consorts born to noble families, official households, and clans with ties to the court, and the competition is fierce!”

“Moreover, His Majesty has reigned for twelve years but... but...” No heirs have been born.

If palace consorts could produce imperial sons, even the worst and most difficult candidates had hope, relying on their sons’ rise.

But for twelve years—nearly twenty since the emperor’s wedding—there were no children.

Entering the palace now meant living a lifetime as a low-ranking concubine, hopelessly wasting years in despair.

Frankly, those with such desires were better off vying for a prince’s favor.

Officer Pan placed his hand firmly on Madam Lin’s trembling shoulder.

“Madam!”

“It’s precisely to show His Majesty our loyalty, both from our family and the Lin family!”

The Lin family had few members and no suitable girls.

The Pan family, connected by marriage, acted as the vanguard to demonstrate loyalty to the emperor.

If even a bit of the emperor’s suspicion could be eased, what were a few daughters?

If not for fear of being too blatant, Master Pan would have presented all four eligible daughters to participate.

Tears instantly fell from Madam Lin’s eyes.

“Master, you have watched Wenjun grow from a toddler babbling her first words to a graceful young lady. Now she is only eighteen. You want her to enter that palace...”

Seeing Madam Lin’s tearful face, Officer Pan sighed.

“Madam, no matter the palace’s situation, the selections always have many outstanding candidates. Wenjun might not even be chosen...”

Though Wenjun was the Pan family’s darling, in the capital she was only somewhat known, nothing more.

To the emperor, what mattered was the minister’s attitude. Beautiful women were plentiful in the palace.

What difference did the status of daughters in the Pan family make?

Wiping Madam Lin’s tears, Officer Pan considered carefully and finally said,

“Very well, let’s send one more with Wenjun to participate.”

...